Ryanair is holding the owners of Budapest Airport to ransom by threatening to
pull one in three of its routes from the Hungarian capital unless charges
are lowered.

The self-styled “ultra low cost carrier” said it was preparing to close 10 routes from Budapest in January and scrap 110 weekly flights unless the airport could come up with a “more competitive cost offer” over the charges imposed on the airline to use its facilities.

The move, if Ryanair presses ahead, could to lead to as many as 800 job losses. Ryanair is the largest operator at Budapest Airport, accounting for almost a quarter of its traffic.

In February Michael O’Leary, the carrier’s chief executive, invested more than $350m (£220m) to set up a base at Budapest, deemed a major coup at the time as Hungary had just witnessed the collapse of its national flag carrier Malev.

However, Ryanair - which has a reputation for withdrawing from airports if it doesn’t get its way - claims Budapest has increased its charges by a fifth since the start of the year. Budapest is 49.7pc owned by German airport group Hochtief.

“The strange logic of Budapest and Hochtief seems to be: 'We have less traffic so we charge the existing traffic more’. That recipe is doomed to failure,” Mr O’Leary said at a press conference in Budapest.

The aviation chief said the airport has also failed to provide the facilities promised at the start of the year. In particular, he cited tents that had been put up on the tarmac to house passengers before they boarded planes. Mr O’Leary said the set-up was “somewhat reminiscent of a UN refugee camp at the airport”.

A spokesman for Hochtief said the decision to raise prices was “like every other normal company”.